


Ghost Stories that Actually Happened, but theres No Ghosts

by skymageariel



Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [22]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Filler, Fluff, Gen, Modern, Modern AU, Slice of Life, Youtuber AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27191440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Ready to film another video for their youtube series “Ghost Stories that Actually Happened,” Callum and Soren gear up to barge into Claudia’s room as per usual. However, what they find ends up changing their plans duurastically.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	Ghost Stories that Actually Happened, but theres No Ghosts

“Welcome back to  _ Ghost Stories that Actually Happened  _ with Callum and Soren.”

“I’m Callum!”

“And I’m Soren. Today, we’re uncovering the mystery of-“

“ _ The Haunted Katolis Bridge!”  _ They spoke together, grinning like madmen at the camera (Callum’s phone) to set the mood. Rayla, behind the lense, rolled her eyes. They were standing in the hallway, right outside Claudia’s room, ready to barge in any second. Which Claudia always hated. 

“But before we head off on our next adventure,” Callum began, placing a hand on the doorknob, “We need to do our proper research.”

“Which is why my sister, our in house ghost guru, has volunteered to tell us all she knows about-“

“ _ The Haunted Katolis Bridge!” _

“Are you gonna say that together every single time?” Rayla asked. They both nodded.

“It’s for effect,” Callum explained. 

“Are we ready to barge into Claudia’s room!” Soren cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

“You know it!” Callum turned the knob and together they chanted-

“Three! Two! One!” They pushed open the door, stepping inside, only to find Claudia asleep in bed. She hugged a pillow, hair up in a messy bun and snoring loudly. Callum and Soren looked at one another, then at the camera, then at Rayla.

“What now?” she whispered as Claudia snored behind them. Soren glanced around the room, surprised by the mess it was. Papers littered the floor, laundry was everywhere, her closet doors were open (and the contents in shambles), and her blinds were broken. This was highly unusual.

“Turn off the camera,” Soren muttered, waving Rayla away. She stopped recording and handed Callum’s phone back to him. 

“Why is she asleep, it’s literally noon,” Callum took his phone from Rayla’s hand. “Also, how are we gonna film the  _ Bother Claudia  _ segment of the video if the Claudia we’re bothering is knocked out.”

“We could wake her,” Rayla shrugged. “Give her shoulder a good ol’ shake.”

“No, we shouldn’t.” Soren turned to the both of them. “She’s been really stressed lately- I think we should sit this one out.”

“Her room is a bit of a disaster,” Callum mentioned, kicking over a cup, spilling cheez-its on the carpet. “I thought Claudia was the neat one of the two of you?”

“I thought so, too,” Soren said, wandering over to her desk and flipping through the papers that covered it. “She’s got so much work over here- She mentioned she was stressed, but I think it’s worse than she’s letting on.” He moved to the window trying to fix the blinds. 

“This hurts to look at,” Rayla said with a frown. “Claudia’s so good- she does so much for all of us, and I hate to see her state of living in such a mess.”

“Yeah,” Callum agreed. “She always puts up with me asking for help in stats class. I wish there was something I could do to return the favor.” Behind him, Claudia rolled over and was face first in her pillow. The three stood in thought, surveying their surroundings. The more they looked, the worse it got. 

“What if we surprised her?” Rayla suggested, stepping into the room a bit more. “If we cleaned her room for her, I’m sure she’d be a lot less stressed when she woke up.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Callum exclaimed a bit too loudly. Soren and Rayla shushed him. “Sorry-“ he whispered, “that’s a great idea! My mom used to say- a clear space means a clear head!”

“Your mom was a nerd.”

“Soren!” Rayla scolded, shaking her head. Switching gears, she asked, “Are we gonna do this, or not?”

“I say yes,” Callum said. “She’d do the same for us.”

“I think so, too. She kinda gets on my nerves, but I guess it's the right thing to do.” Soren swiped a finger across the top of a nearby shelf, dust sticking to his fingertip. “We’d have our work cut out for us.”

“We’d need to make a pretty hefty to-do list,” Callum said, already mentally listing off what they’d need to do.

“And we should probably be done before she wakes up,” Rayla noted. “That way it’s really a surprise.”

“Which means we’d better get started!” Soren grinned, clasping his hands together in anticipation. “Rayla, you take care of laundry.”

“On it!” 

“Callum, you’re smart, you take care of the stuff on her desk. Organize homework by class, get pens and stuff back in their little cup holder-“

“You know I could do that if I wasn’t smart, right?”

“Just do it. I’ll take care of everything else- let’s move!” 

Rayla sat down, pulling a half-full basket of laundry to her and began just tossing stuff in. Callum sat at the desk and began sorting papers, making a pile for each class. Soren left the room, returning a few minutes later with a garbage bag, which he shook out right by Claudia’s bed.

“What are you doing!” Rayla scolded. “She’s literally asleep right next to you!”

“OH!” Soren froze, staring at Claudia, who just snored. “I think we’re okay.”

“You have to be more careful!”

“I’m sorry! I forgot!”

“Well maybe stop forgetting!”

“Would both of you calm down!” Callum whisper-yelled from the desk. “If that plastic bag didn’t wake her up, you two will.”

“Whatever you say, nerd,” Soren said, picking up the cheez-its that Callum had knocked over earlier. “How’s the paperwork going, Mr. Secretary?”

“I didn’t realize Claudia was in, like, thirteen classes. Is she trying to graduate early or something?” Callum shuffled the papers on the desk. “She’s taking  _ Advanced Chemistry 101.  _ Our school offers advanced chem?”

“Callum.”

“What, Rayla?” He turned around in the swivel chair.

“Claudia graduated last year. She’s taking college courses,” Rayla reminded him, making sure each sock had a pair before putting them in the laundry basket.

“Oh.” He paused. “No wonder I haven’t seen her at all.”

“Yeah, no wonder she’s so stressed,” Soren said, tossing tissues and empty ramen cups into the trash bag. “She’s seventeen and in college. No one knows how to handle a workload like that.”

“Ok, gap-year-Soren.” 

“Shut up, Rayla.”

“No, actually shh,” Soren froze, listening. Silence filled the room until he said- “My dad’s home! You guys can’t be here, he said I couldn’t have friends over- you guys need to hide!” He dropped the garbage bag (thus spilling his contents) and grabbed Rayla by the arm, pulling her to her feet. 

“Ow, watch it!”

“Callum, get up!” Soren dragged the wheeling chair away from the desk a bit too hard, causing the whole thing to fall backward with a  _ THUMP!  _ just as they heard the front door close.

“Dude!” Callum sat up, rubbing his head.

“Soren? Is everything alright?” Viren called through the house. 

“You two need to hide!” He shoved them into Claudia’s closet, shutting the doors before leaving the room. “Hey, dad!” they heard him say downstairs. “How was your day!”

“I can’t say I’m surprised that we ended up here,” Callum muttered, back pressed against the wall. Various shirts and dresses hung from the rack in front of him, getting lint in his nose.

“Claudia has a lot of dark shirts,” Rayla said, pusing a whole bunch of clothes to the side. “I can’t see a thing!”

“ _ ACHOO!” _

“Oh no.”

“What!”

“Claudia doesn’t sneeze like that! Viren’s gonna find us and then Soren’s gonna get in trouble!”

“NO, DAD, THERE’S NO ONE ELSE HERE! WHY WOULD THERE BE! HAHA.” Soren’s voice carried from downstairs. Viren was definitely suspicious.

“Way to go, snot-monster!”

“You get shoved in a closet, see how your nose likes it!”

“I did get shoved in a closet!” Rayla’s hushed yell was quite impressive; loud enough to portray her true anger, but quiet enough to not even pass the closet doors. In her pocket, her phone buzzed, displaying an incoming text. “It’s from Soren,” she whispered. Callum leaned in to her screen as she read, “ _ ‘He’s not going anywhere soon- I don’t know how long you’ll have to stay up there.’ _ ”

“Well that’s wonderful,” Callum replied, sarcastic.

“Your breath smells.”

“You wanna kiss me so bad.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me,” Callum teased. Rayla glared up at his stupid grin, lit poorly by the light of her phone. 

“Dammit,” she muttered. “I do wanna kiss you.”

“Nice.”

“But we don’t have time to worry about that now- what do we say to Soren to make sure we get out of here!” Rayla had the text box open, ready to go.

“Ask him if there’s a way we can sneak out!” Callum suggested. Rayla tapped furiously on her phone, before the  _ swoosh!  _ sounded, indicating the text sent. She got a reply almost immediately. 

“ _ ‘Claudia’s room is on the second floor, please don’t try and jump out her window,’ _ ” she read. “A little disappointed that’s not an option.”

Outside the closet doors, the two heard sheets rustling as Claudia started to move. Callum and Rayla bonked heads trying to peer from the crack between the doors, which led to a hushed  _ Ow! What was that for! _

As if she had superhuman hearing, Claudia immediately sat up at the sound of their voices, suddenly suspicious. As her eyes scanned the room, the two got a look at how really tired she was. Dark circles under her eyes and chapped lips made her look like a zombie- with matted hair thrown in a messy bun to add to the effect. She clearly noticed something was different, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing to investigate. Her foot unfortunately landed in a pile of trash left over from Soren. 

“What?” she whispered to herself, rubbing her eyes. Rayla pulled out her phone, quickly typing  _ Claudia’s awake! SOS!  _ They could hear Soren’s text notification go off downstairs.

“YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE FUN, DAD? IF YOU, ME, AND CLAUDIA ALL MADE LUNCH TOGETHER RIGHT NOW.” Viren’s voice was faint compared to Soren’s booming volume. “THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION. WHERE IS OUR DEAR, BELOVED CLAUDIA?”

“Oh, shit,” Claudia muttered, stifling a yawn. She stepped out of the trash and towards her door, disappearing as she made her way downstairs. 

“That was close,” Rayla whispered, letting out a breath. “Now all we have to do is wait until Soren gives us the signal that the coast is-“ Her phone buzzed. She read the message and sighed. “-never gonna be clear. Viren just sat down in the living room, right by the door.”

“Well what now!”

“We leave the closet.” Rayla pushed open the door and stepped out, squinting in the change of lighting.

“I’m gonna stay in the closet,” Callum said, kicking Claudia’s shoes aside and sitting down.

“Why?”

He stared at her. “Reasons.”

“If you’re making a coming out joke, this is not the time.”

“How did you know!”

“You have an asexual pride flag in your room.”

“Oh, yeah.” Callum stood, standing next to Rayla in the center of the room. “So you're cool with that?”

“Of course I am, but we need to focus on getting home.” She eyed the window mischievously. “This is our only option.”

“Rayla, no, we’re two stories up! How are we ever gonna get down without breaking a bone!?”

“By being smart,” she replied, walking towards the window and lifting the glass. Sticking her head out, she said, “It’s not even that far of a drop!”

“Lemme see.” Callum walked over and looked down the window. “I don’t know what's up with your depth perception, but that is a long way down!” he yelped, fear striking his face.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad! All we have to do is tie a few sheets together and-“

“What are you guys doing here?” Claudia’s voice came from the doorframe, startling them both as they pulled their heads from the window.

“Admiring the view. From your window. In your bedroom.” Callum laughed anxiously.

“Ignore him,” Rayla said, stepping forward.

“I always do.”

“Long story short, we were filming for Callum and Soren’s youtube channel, one thing led to another, your dad came home and apparently Soren’s not supposed to have any friends over, so we hid in a closet,” Rayla explained. “Now, we’re just trying to get out of here.”

Claudia groaned. “I’m on it.” As she left, they heard her say, “I can’t believe I’m always bailing Soren out of trouble.” The door closed behind her, leaving Callum and Rayla alone again.

“So- you’re really okay with it?” Callum asked, stepping closer to Rayla. “The whole ace thing?”

“I already said that I am.” 

“You don’t think it’s weird?” He fidgeted with his shirt sleeve.

“No,” she smiled. “I think it fits you well.” She planted a kiss on his cheek, making him smile wide. But that smile turned to confusion as two of them came to the same realization.

“Is something… burning?” Rayla asked, sniffing the air. Not even a second later, the smoke alarms throughout the entire house started blaring, each at a different fever pitch. Yelling erupted from downstairs, Viren scolding Claudia for burning their panini sandwiches while Soren laughed his ass off.

“They’re in the kitchen!” Callum exclaimed.

“It’s a diversion! We need to go now!” Rayla grabbed his arm, pulling him from Claudia’s room, traveling with trepidation as they went down the stairs. Through the spokes of the railing, neither of them could spot anything but clouds of smoke coming from the kitchen door. 

They ran from the steps and into the living room, dashing towards the front door, not even bothering to grab their shoes on the way out.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! I can’t believe its already day 22! only 8 more to go!


End file.
